It was the Syracuse Crunch that broke the hearts of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday night.
The Crunch scored five times and almost doubled the Pens’ shots in a 5-0 win at Mohegan Arena.
It was the second time Syracuse shut out the locals this year, winning, 6-0, on Jan. 3, and now hold a 2-1 series lead.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is still 13 points up on Charlotte for second place in the Atlantic Division, but now trails Providence by five points. Hershey sits in fourth, two points up on Lehigh Valley.
Cooper Flinton had two goals for the Crunch, while Jakob Pelletier and Conor Geekie both added three assists.
Sergei Murashov got the start in goal for WBS, stopping 24 of 29, as Syracuse held a 29-16 edge in shots. The Crunch also scored on two of their six power plays.
Flinton and Matteo Pietroniro scored in the first period to give the Crunch a 2-0 lead after one before Dylan Duke’s 22nd goal of the year increased the edge to 3-0.
Flinton and Mitchell Chaffee accounted for the two third-period goals.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton closed out the weekend Sunday, hosting Cleveland.